1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for feeding a cigarette tray transporting vehicle using a feeding apparatus comprising means for setting a cigarette tray transporting vehicle to and releasing the same from said feeding apparatus for intermittently feeding the cigarette tray transporting vehicle alongside a cigarette manufacturing machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, it is known that a cigarette tray transporting vehicle carries plural cigarette trays having substantially the same size. The cigarette tray transporting vehicle has feed pins which project from a side thereof at positions below and corresponding to the respective cigarette trays with equal spacings therebetween. The vehicle automatically and intermittently fed alongside a cigarette manufacturing machine for unloading of an empty cigarette trays from said cigarette tray transporting vehicle and loading of a full cigarette trays onto the cigarette tray transporting vehicle. In the above conventional technique, a feeding apparatus provided with a single feed pawl and a holding means for holding a feed pin of the cigarette tray transporting vehicle during the unloading and loading operation is used. With such a feeding apparatus, a cigarette tray on the cigarette tray transporting vehicle is shifted to a position for unloading and loading by pushing, with a feed pawl, a feed pin disposed below the cigarette tray to be unloaded by a distance equal to that between two adjacent feed pins. The feed pawl is then returned to the original position to engage a succeeding feed pin, the feed pin is held at the position for unloading and loading by said holding means during the unloading and loading operation, the feed pin is released after the completion of the unloading and loading operation and a succeeding cigarette tray is shifted to the position for unloading and loading by pushing, with said feed pawl, a succeeding feed pin disposed below said succeeding cigarette tray by the distance between two adjacent feed pins for unloading and loading the succeeding cigarette tray. However, in the operation of automatically unloading, one by one, empty cigarette trays from a cigarette tray transporting vehicle, and loading, one by one, cigarette trays filled with cigarettes onto the cigarette tray transporting vehicle. It is customary to manually guide a cigarette tray transporting vehicle to the feeding apparatus, manually coupling said cigarette tray transporting vehicle to the feeding apparatus where said cigarette tray transporting vehicle is being automatically and intermittently fed alongside a cigarette manufacturing machine and manually release said cigarette tray transporting vehicle from the feeding apparatus. Further, the cigarette tray transporting vehicle is manually guided to a packing machine, etc. It is also necessary in this type of conventional technique that a succeeding cigarette tray transporting vehicle is attended to while a preceding cigarette tray transporting vehicle is automatically and intermittently fed alongside the cigarette manufacturing machine. The succeeding vehicle is manually guided to the feeding apparatus prior to the loading of cigarette trays filled with cigarettes onto the preceding cigarette tray transporting vehicle is completed and is manually coupled to the feeding apparatus so that the whole operation of transporting cigarettes from the cigarette manufacturing machine to the packing machine using cigarette tray transporting vehicles may be conducted in succession.